The White House will formally announce the recently-approved $2 bn ‘Guardian’ drone deal for the Indian Navy, the first for a non-NATO country, at the end of a meeting between Modi and Trump.

The deal’s clearance, apart from bolstering defence ties with India, gives a boost to India plans of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems that makes the predator drones. (Image: PTI)

The White House will formally announce the recently-approved $2 bn ‘Guardian’ drone deal for the Indian Navy, the first for a non-NATO country, at the end of a meeting between Modi and Trump. The deal’s clearance, apart from bolstering defence ties with India, gives a boost to India plans of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems that makes the predator drones.

Sources told FE that General Atomics is in talks with local companies here to build next-generation weapons and support systems based on advanced electromagnetic technologies here to take advantage of Modi’s Make in India programme. The company has already established a base in India and has roped in Vivek Lall as CEO for this purpose.

In fact, the Guardian drone deal was spearheaded by Lall, who has worked under various US administrations. Lall had previously worked for US-based Raytheon, NASA and headed Boeing’s India operations. In recent years, the US has become one of India’s largest defence suppliers, with deals totaling nearly $14 bn billion now, up from less than $300 million eight years ago.

Indian scientists are able to send a satellite to Mars and they are planning to send a satellite to the sun, and Spacekids of Chennai can launch a small satellite but when it comes to drones and other military hardware or software we have to depend on the US and Israel. If I become PM I will manufacture these in India itself and create huge employment opportunities. Modi is a coward, He likes the adulation, the salutes and g durbar which Trump gave just like the Maharajahs under the British to mortgage the country. If only our Maharajahs had armed every citizen instead of just the Kshatriya castes, the British would not have ruled over us. The American disciplined citizen militia repulsed the British while Kshatriyas capitulated under the British in the same time period.I will not be surprised if he gets a "Sir citation or Rao Bahadur" citation from the America